i'm david gregory. we're at the colbert report and we're going to talk about the state of the campaign and his character and go behind the scenes of his program. here's our conversation. >> stephen colbert, welcome back to "meet the press." >> it is a thrill. i cannot wait to meet the press. bring them in. bring all of the press in. >> i should say to our audience, full disclosure, that you and i actually have teamed up to play bubble soccer on jimmy fallon. >> the great national pasttime of bubble soccer, an attempt to give middle aged men massive

cardial infark. >> they say can you be the real stephen? >> they never do. >> what do they say? >> hi. how are you? they do. they actually -- people are almost nerve mistaken about who i am at any given moment. >> do they want to see your character immediately? >> no, they really don't. they are really nice about it. you're the only one who has ever done that. >> that's why this is "meet the press." >> i'm grateful people don't come up and say, do the guy. it's like walking down the street, play freebird. which i'm prepared to do by the way. >> let me ask stephen -- ♪ if i leave here tomorrow how about you? go ahead. please. >> let me ask stephen colbert the character -- >> hold on. hello, i'm stephen colbert.

yes, please. >> give me your sense, who has the edge in this race? >> romney obviously. did you see him the other night? that guy is on fire. he is on a rocket ride at this point. >> what is the real stephen think? >> what. >> what does the real stephen think? >> i'm not your puppet to dance on your string david gregory. the real stephen is pleased that mitt romney got his [ bleep ] in a pile because i model conservative punditry, if he doesn't -- if he's not someone i can follow, i'm lost. i have to say up until wednesday night, i thought i don't know what i'm going to do for the next month. >> because why? >> because he was a walking sham bling mound of weakness. even the people who liked him didn't seem to be behind him that strongly. people were stepping out of his boat. they are all saying, that's the guy. i'll be right there. no, i'm just trying to the life

jacket on right now. do i have to self-inflate or do i pull the cord? >> that all changed. >> now he's the man, long luscious coat tails and everybody is jumping on board. >> are you a performing or ideologue. >> i'm a performer. have you not seen the show? >> i've seen it. >> i'm giving you time to finish. >> i'm done. >> what is the -- you are a performer but you also do make a point. >> i'm a satirist make points, parody with a point. if i was doing satire and didn't have a point of view, that would be truly schizophrenic, trying to establish patterns that aren't there. i always have a point of view. i care about the news. we do 160 shows a year, 161 shows a year.

you can't do that unless i guess you care a little bit about what you're talking about or i couldn't. i can't do that. so i'm interested in the news and so people often think i'm an ideologue or i have a political intent. i think that people jon and i did the rally two years ago, they thought that had a political intent. but i comment on things that are in the news. i do not imagine i'm a newsman, i admire newsman. i enjoy good news. and i'm not a politician. but i like playing political games to see what really happens in them. that's why i formed a super pac or ran for president or formed an exploratory committee -- >> what did you expose about politics by the exploratory committee or testifying on capitol hill which some people were critical of. >> everybody was critical of that. i would do that again in a

minute. the super pack was an act of discovery, i didn't intend to have a super pac. i intended a joke about tim pawlenty's ad, voice of god preaching to america from the surface of the moon tim pawlenty saves our country and i don't figure out how to end it. we'll put colbert pac.com at the end of ours. and one thing came to another, including a lot of lawyers. there's an entire industry in politics but i didn't know, suspected, entire industry. there's a politico industrial complex not only raising money but that is built around making money off of the fact there is so much money in politics. and there are almost no rules. should you be doing this? to point out and get a ruling for first time there are no lines between corporate interests and political interests? and i said, well, at least i

always felt, that's -- that's like someone saying, i know there's this tiger of money over there but don't worry, we've got it in a cage. i just go, would you mind if i just check the lock? no, please, that's dangerous to check the lock. i went over and touched the door of the cage and it came off in my hand. it's not fault there's no lock on that. wouldn't you rather know that there is. for me the join is everything i learned while i did it was a new joke or new subject i could make jokes on that at the time nobody was talking about. >> a lot of what your character is it and what you do through the program is similar to what you're talking about in the super pac, you expose what's absurd or what simply doesn't work about politics and about our institutions of government, which i think a lot of your followers and viewers believe. >> i don't know if i expose it but i try to to be aspects and put myself in the news or to embody the thing because john

does what's called pure deconstruction where he lays it out for you like a cadaver. but i falsely reconstruct the news. that's a different way of doing the same kind of job. >> to make a point of the absurdity. >> right. if i do it and something in the news is doing it, that thing, that real thing is probably bull. because if i can go out and do it and it's happening in the real world, the closer it is to me, the less you should trust it. >> why do you think so many people think you and jon stewart are more effective at exposing hypocrisy than the real news is? >> i don't know that's the case. >> certain people believe it. >> they are entitled to their beliefs. i don't know. jokes make things palpable. >> true or truths? >> i don't know about true or

truths, now you're talking to my character. he speaks about truths in capital t, the truths he sees and he declares, i don't know what my audience's truth is. comedy just helps an idea go down, that's all. and it's -- just makes you listen for a minute. >> we'll take a break and hear more from stephen colbert after this.

we are back with stephen colbert, author of america

again, rebecoming the greatness we never weren't. we were talking some about the absurdity of politics and political discourse. here comes your new book. >> about damned time, the qvc guys are coming in in a minute and we're going to sell our book along with serpentine chain necklaces. >> this goes to what you're talking about in the campaign, america rebecoming the greatness we never weren't at a time when you write america is perfect, we have to change it. >> we have to fix it. america is purchase and we have to fix it because american is an exceptional country. >> you're drinking a lot of water -- >> these lights are so hot. it's like they've got more front light than oprah. anyway, sir, go ahead. >> what are you exposing about

mitt romney's book -- >> got it right here. >> there it is. >> no apologies, time for our president to stop his apology tour or start one so these accusations are accurate. either one, do something. sorry, i'm angry. what was your question? >> that's what you're getting at in the book? >> right, there's nothing to apologize for, we have the greatest history in the history of history. okay, what are we supposed to apologize for? >> we're sitting in your office and behind you is your story board. take us behind the scenes of how material comes together off news to make it onle colbert report. >> why don't you ask the seven herbs and spices or recipe for coca-co coca-cola. >> how do you get together and decide the stoortry for the day? this is the next two weeks, we have some idea what we're doing. today i had a good idea about my

first act and second act and some idea for one script next week. i'm have objectives -- this is an old board. i have emily bassil on to talk about the supreme court slate. not a word of that is written. i've got one script for monday and idea for tuesday and everything else is a coin toss from here on out. >> does the outcome of this election change anything significantly? >> well, sure, sure. i'm not ralph nader. i don't think there's no difference. there is a difference. i don't know what the difference is though because i think there are -- there is a possibility that obama would be say more aggressive, a more aggressive reformer or changer in the second act of his presidency. and i don't know how mitt romney would govern. he might govern as a